REPORT: 2nd Michigan quarterback set to transfer after graduating in spring

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News surfaced late on Sunday that Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight plans on transferring after graduation to finish his collegiate playing career elsewhere.

Not long after Speight made his announcement through Instagram, news began to trickle out that another Michigan quarterback reportedly could follow Speight’s footsteps come this spring.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Alex Malzone is a former 4-star prospect out of Brother Rice High School in Birmingham. He was once rated a top-5 player in the state of Michigan and a top-15 pro-style quarterback in the country, per 247Sports.

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Malzone first committed to Michigan under then head coach Brady Hoke and was one of few who stayed pledged to the program after Hoke was relieved of his duties and the university hired Jim Harbaugh to be the next head coach.

After redshirting as a freshman in 2015, Malzone faced some trouble off the field in the spring of 2016. He was charged with disorderly conduct and altering a driver’s license after an incident where he was ticketed for blocking a sidewalk. The “altered driver’s license” charge was eventually dropped and he payed a fine for the disorderly conduct charge.

Malzone and Harbaugh reportedly handled the matter internally during that summer of 2016 leading up to the beginning of last season. Back on the field, Malzone has been buried deep on the Michigan quarterback depth chart. In fact, he saw time in just one game each of the last two seasons, most recently getting a few snaps against Minnesota earlier this year.

Malzone, who was teammates with Wilton Speight for three seasons at Michigan, sent out a tweet after Speight made his announcement to leave the program on Sunday.

Obviously, take this with a grain of salt. Nothing is concrete, it is purely speculation. But should this hold true, Michigan will be minus three quarterbacks heading into 2018, all of which will be departing via graduation (Malzone and Speight) or used-up eligibility (John O’Korn).

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Peters played in five games this season for Michigan. He made a brief appearance against Purdue when Speight left with multiple fractured vertebrae. He then entered the game in relief of an ineffective John O’Korn against Rutgers before being given the starting nod moving forward. Peters, unfortunately, was injured against Wisconsin and was unavailable for the team’s season finale against Ohio State. The hope is that Peters will be ready to go for Michigan’s bowl game.

After Peters, Michigan has freshman Dylan McCaffrey, who is expected to be formally redshirted. The Wolverines also have two incoming quarterbacks as part of their 2018 freshman class.